


The minor fall, the major lift

by bellasong



Category: L.A. By Night (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Season 4 Spoilers, Unparents having sex, We do get a little explicit there guys, not much but if that's not your thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:55:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22913566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellasong/pseuds/bellasong
Summary: So both our unparents are now barons, and I could not let that pass without some baron-y smut.Hope you'll enjoy!Title inspired by Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah
Relationships: Nelli G/Victor Temple
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	The minor fall, the major lift

**Author's Note:**

> So both our unparents are now barons, and I could not let that pass without some baron-y smut. 
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy!
> 
> Title inspired by Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah

_ Baron of Hollywood _ . The words still hammered in Nelli’s head, while she took the piece of jewelry Abrams had given her a few hours earlier and placed it over her clothes to see how it’s fit and wonders clothes that’d match it. She would need to wear that a lot in the next few weeks, she figured. As much as she’d known that in some point Abrams planned on handing her his domain, the consummation of the fact would make her breathless, if she could. A soft knock on the door caught her attention, and she looked up in the mirror to see Victor leaning against the doorway, looking at her.

“It looks good on you.” He commented, without entering her quarters. With all that to process, she’d chosen to come to the Maharani instead of her apartment. 

Officially, because it was safer. The truth? First of all, she didn’t want to have to  _ explain _ her weirdly serious demeanor to her garden’s flowers, not yet anyway, or deal with their displease at the lack of answers. Annabelle was out with some friend Nelli didn’t care to catch the name, Jasper was possibly somewhere  _ not on a date _ with Eva, and Victor… Well, Victor already knew. Secondly, this might be one of the last times she’d be able to spend the day comfortably in her quarters in the club. Victor’s solemn look showed that he also realized that, and the fact he was still at the door remembered them both of the massive invisible wall that had grown between them. 

“Thank you”, Nelli answered, putting the jewelry safely over her vanity, and turning in her heels to face him. “You might enter, you know. It’s your club, after all.” Nelli crossed her arms, and leaned against the top of the vanity, sounding a lot more aggressive than she’d originally intended.

“Still your room.” Victor lifted his arms, defensive, but walked into the room anyway. “Will always be, if you want…” The way he drifted off said more than his words, and Nelli sighed biting her lower lip. Looking away from him, she opened her mouth a few times, without finding the correct words. At some point during those three seconds, he’d sit at the end of her bed.

“You know it’s not that simple.” Was all she could manage. “Not anymore.” 

Looking around the quarters she’d decorated herself, Nelli shrugged in an almost painful way, while he didn’t help at all and just stared at her, quietly agreeing with her in the most maddening way. Suddenly, she jumped to her feet and walked angrily in his direction.

“Victor! Say  _ something _ !” She almost pleaded, as furious as she might have tried to sound. “Don’t just  _ sit there _ looking at me! Curse, scream,  _ do something _ !” Her hands found their way to her hair, as Nelli tried to control her own rage and confusion. 

“What do you want me to do, Nelli?” He sounded twice as tired and lost as she did, which was even more uncommon coming from him. “Beg you not to accept it? We both know this isn’t an option, and it isn’t  _ fair _ . You deserve it. And if it...” He stopped and closed his eyes. “Ends up driving us apart…”

“What?” She crossed her arms. “A part of the course? Wow, and I’m the cold one.”

“I never said that!” He defended himself, getting up to his feet and coming closer to her. Automatically, Nelli tilted her head up to look into his eyes, and squared her shoulders in both a defensive and affirmative action.  _ Quite the Baron already, _ he would’ve smiled if the whole thing didn’t hurt so much. She lifted an eyebrow, her way of asking “What then?”. “Nelli, I… When I became Baron, you and the coterie supported me, as crazy as it was, as very not ready as I might have been at the time. I have a  _ duty _ to support and help you in return. Not only because Abrams asked me to, but because… You deserve more.” he admitted, and she frowned. “Than being some sort of  _ consort _ , I mean. Now he gave you power in your own right, and… I know I didn’t share the power as much as I could have, or wanted to.”

“Because you didn’t trust me.” Nelli didn’t mean it as an attack, more like a laying out of facts, but the way Victor’s face  _ broke _ showed her words were received in a very different way than intended. 

“Do  _ you _ ? Trust me? Trust  _ anyone _ ,  _ baron _ ?” he snapped, and she resisted the urge to back away. “Actually, would you have trusted a person who  _ lied _ as much as you did?”

“I never  _ lied  _ to you, Victor!” she took a step forward, almost touching him with her own body. She was never a person to be intimidated, and now she just  _ couldn’t allow  _ it. “And don’t you  _ dare _ to patronize me.”

“Omit, lie... “ He shrugged. “Same thing, my dear. You put us all at risk and  _ kept _ doing it.” 

“You will never let the Daffodil thing go, will you?”

“Oh, you mean the Second Inquisition thing? By the way,  _ baron _ , good luck with that  _ now _ . Because I might look past it because I love you, but let’s see: Nines might look away, he believes in second chances, or not because he knows how  _ shitty  _ this can get. Terese? She will launch an actual  _ war  _ if she finds out. And Fiona? Oh yes, the last baron, the one he  _ handed  _ to the Inquisition and now controls them. Yeah, that will be lovely. You’re not under my protection anymore, Nelli, and this  _ will _ come back to bite you. All because you hid it from me, the one person who could’ve helped you.”

“You would’ve killed him, and we both know that.”

“Or sent him away, very far away. One of the both, which were the  _ only  _ options! The reasonable ones!”

“Because only your decisions are valid? Like when you decided I’d be the spokeswoman for the Anarch movement? That putting me to face Suzanne was a great idea? After she did the whole mind controlling shit? What would’ve happened if she had shown up and tried to drag me with her? I would have probably gone with her, because I can’t control it, and none of us know what would’ve happened to me! You didn’t think of me, at all!”

“Don’t you dare to compare the situations. That was life or death!”

“So I was the sacrifice? And you were okay with it? What happened to you?” Victor didn’t answer, looking at the floor instead, almost defeated. And then Nelli realized,  _ power happened _ . Taking a few steps past him, she let herself fall onto the bed, processing everything at once, all the bad decisions, the fights, the things that weren’t said. How could a kindred, that was not able to breathe, feel suffocated? Because she did, or as much as she remembered what suffocation felt like. “The same will happen to me, right?” 

A few moments later, she felt the bed shift, as Victor’s weight settled beside her. Silently, he touched her shoulder, almost as if he could  _ see  _ her brain working a thousand miles per second. Nelli knew him enough to know without a glance that he was frowning, his usually cool face contorted with a mix of dread and frustration. 

“I don’t know.” He confessed. “There’s a truce, but truces are all pretty lies, and power in peaceful times is shiny and alluring, but in war… Look what it did to me, to  _ us. _ ” Grabbing a lock of her blue hair between his fingers, and placing it delicately behind her year, he dared to smile. “I hope not. In that sense, Ms. G, you’re better than me. More ready.”

“Thank you.” she inched closer to him in such an automatic way that both of them almost physically hurt. “And the rest…?”

“The rest you’ll learn,  _ Baron Griffith _ .” She smiled at Victor, and let her head fall onto his shoulder. 

“Sounds good, even if it’s frightening.” Nelli admitted, and felt as he joined her in a bittersweet laugh. Silently, her fingers laced with Victor’s, and they stayed there for many moments without saying a word, until she couldn’t help but to address the elephant in the room. “What… What about us,  _ Baron Temple _ ? What are the baronic rules about fraternizing with our… Frenemies?” Victor laughed out loud, making no effort to hide his sadness. 

“There are no rules, as most kindred things… I mean, the Valley and Hollywood are just beside each other, and  _ alliances  _ can be made.”

“Is this some weird proposal?” She teased, without looking up to him. “Not sure how the other barons would react to that.” Nelli bit her lip, even though he couldn’t see, waiting for his response with uncharacteristic apprehension. 

“I wouldn’t put you through that, my dear.” His voice came out rough, as if the words were fighting themselves out of his lips. “Taking advantage of our…” he stopped, and shook his head for a second before resuming “connection to tie your power to mine. You’re free, Nelli.” 

_ I don’t want to be free _ , the words died in her brain before she could utter them. That had nothing to do with want, but with  _ need _ . As a matter of fact, she had no choice, she had a promise to keep, a domain to rule over, personal goals to achieve… Whatever she wanted regarding Victor and their  _ connection _ , as he had put it, had nothing to do with it. Could not have, to be realistic. 

“Well, you better know you are  _ not _ .” Nelli countered, trying to sound adamant, and for the first time in what seemed a long time they moved apart just enough to look at each other, and even though Victor was trying to look mock offended, all both of them could see was the masked hurt cloaked by the contentment they were supposed to be overwhelmed with. 

“I have every intention of  _ not _ being so free.” She smiled at him, openly as she hadn’t in a while. “Not only because I promised Abrams, you see, but because Hollywood is a very rich area, with many Business opportunities, and a good relationship with their baron has always been of paramount importance.” His goal was to annoy, but Nelli just fixed her hair and raised an eyebrow at him.

“But of course, darling. I am very glad to know you recognize where we stand.” They both laughed, and realized their hands were still locked. 

“The baron seems pleased! Does that mean you will allow me to rebuild the Maharaja?” he squinted a bit, as Nelli hit his shoulder with a weak slap. “Some of our best memories are in that place.” 

It was hard to pinpoint the exact moment when the atmosphere changed. As they seemed to be heading to a calm and relaxed mood, suddenly the room was filled again with a sense of dread and rupture neither of them was ready to deal with yet. 

“Thank you… For welcoming me after everything with the Camarilla and Chaz.” Nelli almost choked on the words. 

“No. Thank  _ you _ for finding me. It was a pleasure to have a partner sort of weird consort like you, Ms. Griffith.” Victor grabbed her hand harder, and motioned to bring it to his lips. 

“Why are you using the past tense, darling?” Nelli rasped out, before Victor’s lips could touch her skin. “Stop this nonsense, it’s not like this is farewell.” There was something in her voice, beneath all the layers of carefully trained affectation and sass,  _ hope _ perhaps, and Victor couldn’t help but to feel something inside of him whirl at the thought. 

It might have been the talk, or the hidden tones in their voices, never daring to say the things that  _ had _ to be said, but when Victor’s lips came in contact with the skin of Nelli’s hand, they were both surprised by the  _ warmth _ . They couldn’t pinpoint who’d turned on  _ Blush of Life _ first, but the fact was that when their skins touched, both were as human as they could possibly be.  _ Another silent way of telling how much they loved each other _ ? Certainly, but the next step seemed simple and natural. 

From Nelli’s hand, Victor’s lips went straight to her mouth, finding her expectant, opening her lips under his, and grabbing his shoulders almost to the point of pain. Not that he minded, as the taste of her pleasantly warm mouth mingled with his, the  _ blood _ taste almost too faint to realize, and his hands got lost in her hair, knocking down the beret in the process. For the first time in a  _ long _ time, she didn’t care. After all, she had  _ dozens _ of those. Moments like these, however, seemed to be growing scarcer by the day. 

Straddling him felt just right, as she climbed onto his lap and grabbed the back of his head with one hand, deepening the kiss as his own hands dragged a path of fire up her thighs, all the way up to her ass, grabbing strong enough to evoke a low, rasp moan from Nelli.

Throwing her head back, and breaking the kiss, Nelli exposed her neck in such a way that Victor would never be able to deny, kissing and nibbling - albeit only with his normal teeth - down the delicious line of her jugular, that happened to have become ten times more tempting every time she had blush of life on. In such close range, the smell of her expensive perfume mixed with the unmistakably exquisite scent of her vitae, so dangerously close he could almost taste, was almost overwhelming and bared great guilt in how tight his pants already felt. 

Nelli’s velvet coat was pushed delicately off her shoulders by Victor’s skilled hands, and she took the time to place the garment safely on the bed, whilst moaning softly under his kisses, that had reached her collarbone before she could entertain the idea of how it would have felt had he dug his fangs in her neck. The one line they’d never cross, as tempting as it was. 

The one thing better than sex, for kindred, was  _ feeding _ . Especially tasting another kindred’s vitae. But blood bonds, as delicious as they were, carried extreme danger and created a fake love, an impossible dependance they’d have an atrocious time getting rid of. The never spoken truth was: they loved each other too much already to risk a fake infatuation ruining everything. That didn’t stop them from, while having Blush of Life on, almost salivating at the mere thought. 

Blindly, pushing her mind away from the same ideas she knew Victor was struggling with, Nelli undid every single button of his shirt in less than ten seconds, and the way he laughed against her chest sent tingles all up her spine. Looking up, with his eyes so dark she had no choice but to swallow hard as her mouth went completely dry, Victor smiled in such a lustful way a part of her almost scolded him on the grounds of being obscene. 

“Celerity? For undressing?” He asked, pushing their lips close together for just a second, while she shrugged in his arms, looking so tiny he could see himself believing she was harmless. Wrong, so very wrong. “Damn Toreadors…” 

“Didn’t want to ruin your only good shirt.” Nelli teased, so close to his lips they were able to feel each other’s breath. Such a different sensation, after so many years not breathing, to feel things like this and see their chests going up and down as their long still hearts beat so hard it felt they’d explode. 

“Rude”, Victor nibbled at her lips, and Nelli tensed in his arms, looking back at him with more desire he’d seen in years. At the risk of driving both of them mad with anticipation, Victor took his time, brushing his lips over hers, dragging his hands down her now bare back, awakening every bit of exposed skin, only to see Nelli squirm, impatient, eager, nonetheless enjoying each small step she took towards losing control of herself. “What shall we do with you, baron?”

Inside of them, tempted by the Blush and the smell of vitae so impossibly close, their beasts twirled and stretched, ready to take control, but they were able to silence them, keep them at bay, too lost in each other to pay attention to that pesky thing. Not tonight. Unable to wait anymore, they resumed their kissing, deep, passionate, tongues exploring every inch of their mouths, never worrying to compete, as their bodies were brought even closer together when Victor strongly grabbed her waist and stood up only to turn and lay Nelli on the bed, breaking once more the kiss to drag his lips momentarily down her neck once more. That time, his fangs came to play, showing off just to drag down Nelli’s soft skin all the way from her chin to her chest, leaving a red fiery trace that was more than enough to awaken every fantasy they might have had to take that play further. 

Nelli’s lips were parted, and her cheeks flushed in an unnatural albeit accurate way, as her nails dug into Victor’s shoulders and back under the now open shirt. She motioned to remove the garment off his back, but he grabbed her wrists, pinning them against the bed with this own weight, looking down to find her pupils blown with desire in a way that did nothing but to almost drive him over the edge, every single time. 

Placing his hands under the sparkly fabric of her blouse, just where the hem met the waistband of her velvet pants, Victor caressed her skin, lightly just to tease and see her squirm under him, feeling every bit of her shiver and get goosebumped under his fingers as he dragged the golden blouse up. 

“How mad are you gonna get…” He started, voice low and raw, stopping a moment to regain his focus. “If I rip this off you?” Nelli let out a half moan half squeak at the question, since his hands had reached just under her breasts, barely touching the skin. 

“Murderous mad.” She rasped out, biting her lip to avoid making a disappointed sound as his hands stopped touching her body so he could back away from the bed and get rid of his open shirt, while she scolded him about ruining something she made partnering up with whatever designer he didn’t pay attention to the name. 

While standing, Victor watched, dry mouthed, as Nelli rose to her knees on the bed, and calmly and carefully removed the blouse, folding it and placing over her suit jacket at the end of the bed. Looking back up to him, Nelli smiled at the way his eyes were slowly examining her body, as attentive as they did the first time he saw her naked. Victor’s breath was getting stuck in his throat, as even if with the Blush of Life, he realized that he didn’t need air anymore, and she almost laughed out when he slowly began breathing again, having a delicious hard time with it. She could make it worse, of course. 

“Did my threat of murder scare you off…?” she asked, coming closer to him, still kneeling over the bed, to touch his bare chest, thanking the choice of her past self when she decided to buy a tall bed, giving the absurd height difference. As they were replaced by her lips in his chest, Nelli’s hands moved downwards, until they found his belt. “And here I thought you would have grown a thicker skin,  _ baron _ ” Victor hissed when her fingers curled around his erection over the clothes. He didn’t see when or how Nelli opened his belt and button with her free hand, but the important part was the amazing job she was doing at massaging him while dragging his damn zíper down. 

Nelli had Awe off, but as her hands slid about his body and took care of his now fully open pants and underwear in another not so shocking blink of an eye, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her hands, still delightfully warm, went straight to his erection, eyes locked on his, and as much as the kisses down his abdomen were driving him crazy, Victor had other more pressing issues at the moment, because Nelli was still terribly overdressed. 

Touching both of her hands to make her stop, Victor leaned towards her, capturing her lips in a deep, passionate and unyielding kiss, seeming once more to wish to give and take every possible drop of desire at once, make up for all the fights at once, and more importantly, show her just exactly how much she was loved. Nelli responded in earnest, both arms moving to be thrown around his neck, stroking and caressing as their tongues calmly but hungrily danced, not paying much attention to the fact that he was laying her down again and make a quick work of her button and zipper, not bothering to give her a moment to think before sliding his hand under her pants, cupping her over the lacy lingerie.   
Nelli leaned into his touch, throwing her head back in surprise and breaking the kiss, as his fingers moved up and down still through the lace, focusing all of her willpower in not squirming too much, which was growing considerably harder the more he worked. As his fangs tentatively touched her neck, never piercing though, Nelli decided she was done with all of those clothes, and removed all of them in a blink. To that, Victor only looked down and laughed, cupping her cheeks in his hands and smirking.

“And here I thought you’d learned patience, Baron.” He teased, before pulling her into another kiss. 

“Definitely not my thing.” She whispered back, amongst kisses, wrapping her legs around his body to pull him closer, both of them groaning slightly in response as their now fully naked bodies touched. “Surprised you didn’t notice before.”

With that, Nelli inverted their positions, straddling Victor and pining his hands to the sides of his head faster than he could possibly see. He was strong enough to resist, or even to invert the situation again, but of course he didn’t want to. Having Nelli over him naked, warm and flushed from the Blush, her always perfect hair just enough messed up, was just too wonderful to not sit back and enjoy. He was usually more practical than that, but one thing he knew how to appreciate was  _ art _ . And hell if she was art. 

His line of thought was interrupted when she let go of one of his hands to reach between them to touch him again, guiding him in so she would lower herself down his length. In life, Nelli was fast and impatient, but in moments like those she’d always known how to be painfully slow, making sure both of them could enjoy every second of it. Kissing his lips lazily, she looked at him with cloudy eyes as her hips began moving, letting go from his other hand and grabbing his shoulders for support. 

The moment both his hands were free, Victor directed them to her hips, helping her even though he knew she didn’t need his help. In many things, he knew that. As her body moved still slowly and sensually over his, picking up speed gradually and constantly as both of their pleasures grew, he let his mind wonder for a moment to the great things that woman was set to do, and let himself smile at knowing he’d love to see. 

Grabbing her by the waist, Victor sat on the bed, changing positions and smirking to himself as she openly moaned thanks to the change in angle and depth. Losing himself in the curve of her neck, the smell of vitae almost making his beast beg for a bit, he took advantage of the new position to meet her halfway, and soon the rhythm became theirs.

Nelli closed her eyes, moving her head to the side to allow him more space, loving how his kisses and way too tame bites brought her closer and closer to where she wanted the most. As his hands trailed up her body bringing her closer, and he nibbled down her neck towards her chest, Nelli’s hands did a rather strong work of his back, leaving deep nail marks that would only grow deeper the more their pleasure intensified. In the depths of her mind, she’d let herself enjoy feeling safe in his arms, even if she’d never admit to that, knowing that this specific feeling was probably going to grow fainter and fainter in the nights to come. They’d start as allies, of course, but only time would tell. 

That time, it was Victor who surprised her, rolling her suddenly onto her back, laying fully over her and grabbing one of her thighs for leverage as he resumed thrusting with the same intensity as before, now looking into her eyes. She felt like she should feel overwhelmed, or anything else, but all she could feel was righteousness.

Cupping his face with both of her hands, and moving her own body to meet his as much as she possibly could, Nelli pushed away her thoughts, looking into his eyes and seeing reflected the same message she wanted to be able to say out loud: _ I love you, we will manage.  _ Maybe in time they’d get into trouble, but for now, it was perfect, so she just nodded, pulling him down for another deep kiss, letting her body freely respond to him in that familiar way they both had been having so little opportunity to enjoy. 

In the middle of the kiss, they finally were able to get lost in one another, moaning their bliss into each other’s mouths as their bodies worked together to give them the release they wanted so much and was still not going to be enough. Their beasts kept asking for more, for the forbidden, but they wouldn’t risk it. They didn’t risk being bonded to one another before, now would be far too dangerous, they’d lose their baronies or worse, so they made the annoying voices shut up, and surrendered themselves to the pleasure they could have. 

It didn’t take long for the both of them to get lost into the blissful release of the climax, foreheads touching and looking straight at each other, enjoying every second of it together in a way only they knew how to. They stayed still for what seemed way too long, almost as if they’d loathing the idea of breaking the moment, until Victor rolled off her, with a smirk. 

“So that’s how Barons do it, huh?” His words made her laugh, but rolled her eyes anyway. 

Nelli turned to the side to face him. “Does that mean I’ve always been a Baron?” 

Victor suddenly turned serious and grabbed her hand, bringing it close to his face so he could kiss her fingers. “That’s exactly what it means.” And with the way his words left his lips, and the look in his face, she knew it to be true. To him, she’d always been, and now she got to prove him and Abrams right and all of the rest of the world fucking wrong.


End file.
